BARRINGTON — During Saturday’s deliberative session, town residents approved placing the proposed budget and the old Town Hall renovation project on the ballot for March.

During the upcoming town vote, residents will consider approving an operating budget of $6,247,168, which would result in the tax rate going up by about 18 cents per $1,000 assessed property value. A homeowner with a home valued at $250,000 would pay an additional $45 on their tax bill if the proposed budget is approved.

Voters in March will also see a proposal to renovate the old Town Hall on Ramsdell Lane, for the price of up to $2.33 million. The project was recommended by the Building Committee, which has been studying ways to ensure adequate space for town functions.

The old Town Hall was evacuated after mold and water damage were found in the building in spring 2010. According to town officials, the current locations of municipal offices, Recreation Department, SAU offices, and the library do not provide enough space for those functions.

Selectman Keith Pratt, who also sits on the Building Committee, said the committee studied options of taking no action, renovating the building, constructing a community center to house all town functions, or building separate buildings. After analyzing the options and reviewing multiple studies, renovating the old Town Hall appeared to be the most cost effective option for providing adequate space for town departments, he said.

“I think we did our homework on this, I think we’ve had the right people helping us,” said Brian Lenzi, chairman of the Building Committee.

He said that the mold at the building resulted in poor indoor air quality — an issue that would be fixed with the renovations.

“I’m positive we won’t have a mold issue when we move back into the building,” said Lenzi.

The building would also become ADA compliant and energy efficient. To prevent moisture from entering the building, the old Town Hall would be skinned, meaning it would no longer have brick on the outside.

After the old Town Hall is renovated, the library would still need a new location, Pratt noted.

Because the warrant article for the old Town Hall renovation is requesting a bond, a three-fifths majority is required by residents in March for Article 14 to be approved.

A petition warrant article will also appear on the March ballot, asking voter’s permission to have a Selectmen-appointed committee established to draft an ordinance to protect the Isinglass River.

The article was approved for the ballot Saturday after a slight wording change — initially, the article stated the committee would draft a “rights based” ordinance, but at the advice of the town attorney, a resident made a motion to delete that phrase, because it would be confusing to some voters.

If the article is approved, the committee would have an advisory role only, and according to Town Administrator John Scruton, most of the committee’s recommendations will deal with land use issues that would be worked out with the Planning Board and Conservation Commission.

One of the petitioners, Elizabeth Doran Healey, said she has lived in Barrington most of her life, and would like to protect the Isinglass River for future generations. She said she would like an ordinance drafted that provides regulation on top of the existing statutes and town ordinances.

During Saturday’s session, Fire Chief Rick Walker explained Article 23, which asks voters to authorize a larger proportion of funds gathered from ambulance fees to be contributed to ambulance replacement and staffing of two additional EMTs. With the proposed change, half of the collected funds would go to offset taxes, and half would go toward both the ambulance fund and the additional part-time personnel. While Barrington currently does not have rescue staff working on the weekend, and it depends on volunteer EMTs to respond to emergencies, Walker said the new EMTs would work weekend shifts, resulting in better response times during critical situations.

Voters in March will also be asked to establish a Library Replacement Capital Reserve fund, and place $50,000 in that fund from unreserved fund balance, for the purpose of building a new library.

Several other warrant articles will also ask voters to dedicate unreserved fund balance money, left over at the end of the fiscal year, toward road construction, a fire truck fund, fire and rescue equipment, library technology, fund for a new compactor, bridge replacement in the future, and heavy equipment fund for the Highway Department.

Residents will also vote on having the town clerk be compensated through salary only, rather than a combination of salary and fees collected through her office. They will also consider having Selectmen appoint a tax collector annually, rather than having the tax collector an elected position.

At the deliberative session, residents were supportive of increasing tax credits for veterans who are 100 percent disabled — from $1,400 in tax credits to $2,000.